NBA Finals Viewership By Year [2023 Nuggets]

The 2023 NBA Finals viewership averaged 11.64 million across five games. The Nuggets clinched the 2023 NBA with an impressive 4-1 score.

Meanwhile, Game 5 recorded this year's finals' best viewership at 13.08 million. The record is 1% higher than the 2022 NBA Finals Game 5.

Nikola Jokic became the 2023 NBA Finals MVP as he averaged 30.2 points, 14 rebounds, and 7.2 assists so far. The Joker has become the No. 1 NBA social media celebrity since May, while his popularity has grabbed a total of 540 million views for the Nuggets throughout the finals.

NBA on Twitter was the most-viewed brand on the platform during the 2023 NBA Finals. NBA has released an official statement confirming that the 2023 NBA Playoffs accumulated eight billion views across all NBA social media platforms, making it the most-viewed playoffs ever.

ABC, ESPN, and TNT were the main broadcasters of the playoffs, while ABC network was solely responsible for televising all the Finals games. 

The 2022 NBA Finals between Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics averaged 12.40 million viewers. GSW clinched the trophy in six games.

Game 6 saw an average of 13.99 million viewers, which was a 22% rise year-over-year (YoY). The peak was at 16.9 million US viewers at 11:15 p.m. ET during the last game, per ESPN.

Similarly, the whole series became the most-watched NBA Finals since the 2019 Finals. ABC was the official broadcaster and the network ranked as six most-watched TV programs for June 2022.

The 2021 NBA Finals between Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns averaged 9.91 million viewers on ABC. It was 32% higher than the 2020 Finals.

The Bucks won their first championship since 1971 across six games. More than 12.52 million viewers turned on their TV for Game 6, the big day.

The 2021 US demographic was 50% up to the previous year. Similarly, the final game's viewership peaked at 16.54 million viewers between 11:30 p.m. ET and 11:44 p.m. ET. Overall, Game 6 accumulated the largest audience whose ages ranged between 18 and 34.

LA Lakers defeated Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals, garnering an average US viewership of 7.45 million. However, the viewership is recorded to be the lowest in NBA history to date.

The Lakers and Heat played six games where Game 6 reeled in 8.29 million viewers, 0.6% lower than Game 5, which enjoyed 8.89 million viewers.

Also, the 2020 Finals saw 48% fewer viewers than the 2019 Finals, which was the same for other major sporting events, including MLB and NFL.

Yahoo Sports confirms that the 2020 NBA Finals' timing in October due to the Covid-19 pandemic competed with NFL and MLB, the sole reason for the decline of viewership in all events. Similarly, the 2020 presidential election was also named a contributing factor to the viewership decline. 

The 2019 NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors amassed an average of 15.14 million viewers across six games.

As Toronto Raptors made it to the Finals for the first time in history and also bagged the title, the viewers from Canada equally made the news.

While the USA recorded an average of 18.34 million viewers during the Game 6, 7.7 million Canadian viewers turned on the TV for the purpose.

The Raptors have not returned to the finals since then, while the Warriors remain a prominent finals-playing team as of the 2023 NBA season.

The 2018 NBA Finals saw an average of 17.56 million US viewers. It is still considered to be one of the most ferocious final games in NBA history. 

Golden State Warriors and Cavaliers played for the fourth and last time in the Finals after facing each other four times in a row. While the Warriors have made two further appearances after 2018, the Cavaliers have not.

As the NBA fandom waited for the league's longest rivalry to meet its end, 16.24 million viewers tuned in to watch Game 4, the final game of the series. Golden State Warriors had dominated all four games to lift the trophy for the sixth time in the franchise's history.

The 2017 NBA Finals saw the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers battle for the NBA Championship trophy for the third time.

The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers with a 4-1 score as Kevin Durant bagged the 2017 Finals MVP trophy in his first season with Golden State.

ABC recorded an average of 20.38 million viewers throughout the series, all from the USA. Out of the five games played, Game 5 saw an abundance of 24.47 million viewers, as Game 4 had 19.01 million viewers.

Overall, the 2017 series received a huge amount of viewers at 18.70 million in Game 1, 19.69 million in Game 2, and 20.05 million in Game 3.

Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA Championship in 2016. The average viewership remained the same, with the 2017 record at 20.28 million.

It was the 14th rematch of the NBA Finals in history and the second straight rematch in back-to-back years. Moreover, the series was the first time since 2013 to include all seven games.

The Cavaliers triumphed over GSW across seven games as the series reached the very last game with plenty of thrilling moments along the way.

The viewers number reached its highest at Game 7, with 31.02 million viewers tuning into ABC that year. Meanwhile, Game 3 had the lowest viewership at 16.47 million viewers back then. LeBron James emerged as the Finals MVP.

The 2015 NBA Finals started the Warriors vs. Cavaliers rivalry. The series recorded an impressive 19.94 million average viewers across six games.

Game 6 recorded the highest viewership at 23.25 million, while Game 1 recorded the least at 17.77 million. Game 2 increased to 19.17 million, while Game 3 had a lesser 18.77 million viewers.

Similarly, the figures significantly grew at Game 4 with 19.84 million viewers, and 20.86 million watched Game 5. While the Warriors eventually won the Finals as they were led by Stephen Curry, they faced quite difficult times since Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving both were out due to injury.

San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat played for the second time at the NBA Finals, the first in 2013. Their five games averaged an impressive 9.3 million viewers from US households.

Game 5 saw a rise in the number of viewers to 18 million when SA Spurs triumphed over Miami. Before that, the Heat had taken the title in 2013.

The 2014 Finals was also the Heat's third consecutive finals appearance and the second consecutive for the Spurs under coach Gregg Popovich.